One Ferocious Hog: TerryTheTrollKiller’s New Ride!

Most of you know me here on HDForums as “TerryTheTrollKiller,” your Administrator of eight years. I’ve met and ridden with several hundred members and can remember when we had less than 5000 of us on the board. Most of you will also remember my great old bike that I had during the whole eight years up to August 31st of this year. My 2000 CVO Road Glide—which some of you watched me modify over time—has gone to a new owner and I have a brand new ride which I wanted to share with you.

I’ve been a Shark Nose fan since I saw the first CVO Road Glide Ad back in 2000. Shortly after that I purchased one of the rarest (Orange, Black and White) ones that only had a production number of around 700. I rode it for 14 years and watched many changes happen to the newer models while I continued to ride my trusty steed.

In 2013, my best friend Bob purchased a 2013 Road Glide, did quite a bit of motor work to it and then turned it over to me for a test ride. I was sold. He was running 111hp and 107ft-lbs of torque—and I had to have one. Bob had his picture on the 100 Plus HP Wall at Legacy Harley Davidson in Effingham, Illinois and I was bound and determined to join him!

It was midseason and the new 2014 models were due out soon so I ran to Legacy Harley Davidson to order one and was given the devastating news that there would be no 2014 Road Glide! I walked around in circles for around 30 minutes like my left foot was nailed to the floor and was just about to have them find me a left over 2013 when a salesman whispered to me that the rumor was that Harley was just skipping a year while they retooled the factory for an upgraded version of the Road Glide and maybe I should consider waiting. I bit my lip, sulked home and began the long wait for the great unknown! In the meantime, I rode Bob’s Beast whenever I felt the need for speed.

During the week of Sturgis 2014 I got an email from Bob with the announcement of the newly designed 2015 Rushmore Addition Road Glide! The picture was of a Denim Black Special which was exactly what I was looking for. I called my bank the next day (August 8th), got approval and then called Legacy Harley Davidson and made an appointment for that Friday (August 8th) to talk trade. I knew what the trade in value was on my bike and I knew what the retail value was also. I had a number in my head that I would not go below and I really hated the prospect of walking out of the dealership without a new bike order. I met with my salesman (John) a half hour before the dealership opened and then sat down with him and the Finance Manager (Nick) to start what I thought would be a back and forth session that would last most of the day. The Sales Manager (Clint) was off that day but knew exactly what bike I wanted and what I had to trade. He and Nick had already gotten their heads together with John and had an idea of where we would be at before I even got there. After sitting down with John and Nick I discovered that they had figured out that I was “TerryTheTrollKiller” from HDForums and that they used our forum on a daily basis for information and were very familiar with me, my bike and the forum operations! They actually seemed excited to be dealing with me as the “forum manager” as if I was some type of celebrity.

After what seemed like an eternity (approx. 30 minutes) Nick came back to the office and set a contract in front of me. I looked at the numbers and all the blood drained out of my face and I could feel my body getting weak! They beat that number in my head by two thousand dollars and were offering me full “retail” for my trade! I couldn’t sign the contract fast enough. Now the only problem was finding a Denim Black Road Glide sooner than the anticipated end of September scheduled delivery (they had other colors coming in earlier but no Denim Blacks). Nick assured me that he could find me a bike earlier at another dealership as soon as they started arriving. I explained to Nick and John that this was my 12th Harley and would probably be my last one without training wheels (I’m not a young guy anymore). I told them that I wanted this one to run like all of my other bikes should have and then mentioned Bob’s 2013 Road Glide. John then introduced me to Jim in parts along with the Parts Manager, Mark and an old friend who I’ve known forever, David “Toad” Baldwin.

Jim is quite the motor head and we began discussing the modifications that would put me on the 100HP Wall next to Bob’s picture. Jim explained to me that the tech who would be doing my motor work was Dustin and that he was very good at performing this task and was highly qualified on the Dyno. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear so the planning began. We were going to install a Harley Davidson Stage IV kit after my bike was broken in (1000 miles) but we decided to leave out the “government regulated” Screaming Eagle Cam and install a Woods 5-6 Cam instead for added horsepower and torque (this is where Jim’s expertise came in to play). Jim also talked me into installing a High Performance Baffle in the two into one Vance and Hines Chrome Pro Pipe (best pipe for horsepower and a mean look) to give it more zip and a crisper sound. Basically, we went with the non-street legal Harley Davidson Race Only, Off Road Stage IV kit with the bigger injectors to handle the air to fuel ratio needed to give this beast the maximum power I was looking for, along with the Harley Race Tuner to dial it all in. The bike would still be a daily rider and very dependable since nothing was too radical and we hadn’t changed the stroke. I already knew I wanted the Harley Davidson Heavy Breather for air control (and mean looks). I decided to go with a Brawler Solo Seat (I later ordered a CVO Road Glide seat for longer rides) with no passenger foot pegs for that bad ass solo look! We installed the Black Tribal Theme mirrors, grips, pegs and floorboards to accent the blacked out look of the Denim Paint and that worked out very well! I also had them install a removable Solo Luggage Rack with the four point docking system and purchased a Saddleman bag for trips. I had decided against spending an additional $1000 for a color-matched chopped tour pack.

On Thursday, August 28th I got the news that they had located a Denim Black Road Glide for me and would be picking it up on Friday. They would install all of my accessories (Grips, Mirrors, Pegs, Seat and Luggage Rack) immediately but the rest of the goodies (Pipe, Air Cleaner and motor work) would have to wait until I had a thousand miles on my bike. I went and looked at the finished product on Saturday the 30th and picked it up on Sunday the 31st.

Before I left with my bike I made the appointment for my motor build which was for ten days later (September 10th) and they said it would be ready to go by Friday September 12th. The fun now began. I rode every day to get the needed 1000 miles on my bike. I took long rides on my way to work and on my way home and on my days off I rode all day. I dropped off my bike on the evening of the 9th with 989 miles on it. Dustin immediately wheeled it in to the Dyno to get the pre build Dyno Numbers which were 75hp and 92ft lbs of torque. Not bad for a stone stock bike. I went back to Legacy the next morning to take some pictures of Dustin working on my bike and this is what I found at 9:30am!

And here is a picture of me and Dustin with the almost completed motor at 2:30 that same afternoon!

Here is a picture of the Service Manager who supervised this whole build “Major Strange’ and yes, that’s his real name.

By 4:30 when I was getting ready to go home I was able to hear the new motor run and got to twist the throttle a few times! The sound was awesome and will set off car alarms in a Wal Mart parking lot! Dustin kept the bike until Friday afternoon to check it out and make sure everything was OK before he let me have it to put an additional 500 miles on it before the final Dyno Tuning. We scheduled the Appointment for the first available day which was September 24th. Dustin was also going to install the upgraded speakers and Amp kit from Harley. I wanted to be able to hear my tunes over the new motor and exhaust at high speeds with the short windshield! For the record, at this point I’m running Amsol Synthetic Oil in the motor, Amsol Severe Gear Lube in the Tranny and a non-synthetic oil in the primary. I’ll probably switch to Mobile VTwin for the motor at the next oil change but I haven’t made up my mind for sure. The Amsol Severe Gear Lube in the Tranny made all the difference in the world for finding neutral and quieting down the normal clunky HD Tranny.

The ride home with the beefed up motor was out of this world. The torque would snap your head back when twisting the throttle in 3rd and 4th gear and the speed was unbelievable! Dustin had just put in a download to get me by until the Dyno Tune so it was a little choppy taking off at stop signs, but I knew that would be fixed as soon as I took it back for him to work his magic. I couldn’t wait for the 24th to get here so I could find out my final numbers and get my 100hp shirt and my picture on the wall.

After what seemed like forever—and 800 miles later—I rode my bike back to Legacy HD for the final tune and parked myself in the lounge so I could hear the dyno and get the results first hand. The staff at Legacy HD seemed as excited as I did to find out just how well this motor was going to perform. This was the first 2015 that they had dynoed and the first time they had put one together with this exact combination of parts. Between the speaker upgrade and the tuning, Dustin worked on the bike most of the day, and at one point Jim called me in to go back to the dyno where Dustin was performing one of the final runs. At 6100 rpm’s the bike was running 166 mph with 113hp and 120ft-lbs of torque. Everyone was just freaking amazed! I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself! After that, Dustin buttoned everything up, test road the bike and turned it over to me.

This thing is a freaking beast. After the Dyno Tune it runs smooth and the performance is better than anything I’ve ever ridden in my life. I am completely happy with this bike and get chills every time I start it. It’s getting cold out now—mid-October as I write this—and I’ve got about 2800 miles on the bike. I’m hating the thought of another Illinois winter with my new bike plugged into a Battery Tender but that’s life in the Midwest!

My hats off to Legacy Harley Davidson and all the great people I dealt with: Clint Kuhns (Sales Manager), Nicholas Crear (Business Manager), John Koester (Sales Associate), Mark Schmeling (Parts Manager), Jim Conder (Parts Associate), Dave “Toad” Baldwin (Parts Associate and Tattoo Artist), Dustin Smith (Master Technician), Major Strange (Service Manager) and let’s not forget the owner of this great dealership, Paul Gutman!

To say that the employees of Legacy Harley Davidson treated me like Royalty is an understatement. These guys treat everyone who walks into the building with respect but I know that being associated with HDForums.com played a big role in a very successful and happy Event in my life!

Before I left with my newly tuned 100hp plus monster they washed it and parked it in front of the dealership so they could take my picture for the “Wall.” They presented me with my “$4000” 100hp plus Club t-shirt which you can see me holding. My picture now hangs proudly on the wall at Legacy Harley Davidson with some of the fastest Harley’s in the area!